Newspapers as historical research tools
Published on 25th June 2013
From the oldest cave paintings found in Chauvet, France, via Egyptian hieroglyphs to ancient Rome’s 'Acta Diurna' government announcements carved in metal or stone and hung in public places, to 2nd and 3rd century A.D. Chinese ‘Tipao’ or 'news sheets' and on to 8th Century A.D. Chinese ‘Kaiyuan Za Bo' handwritten on silk and read aloud by government officials, until Johannes Gutenberg perfected ‘movable type' printing in the 15th century and instigated the ‘Printing Revolution', the need to document and reflect the world around us has long been an aspiration of all human societies.
According to Wikipedia “A newspaper is a periodical publication containing news regarding current events, informative articles, diverse features, editorials, and advertising." As such, newspapers are a rich historical source and a particularly useful aid to getting a feel for the ‘Zeitgeist' (literally ‘the Spirit of the Age‘) and consequently a very worthy addition to any library.
Although published from the end of the 17th century it is from the middle of the 18th century that Irish newspapers became more widespread and consequently more useful as historical research tools. The rise of coffee houses with their stocks of newspapers and newsletters containing information from around the world led to much business and debate being conducted there. Advertisements, and Births, Deaths and Marriage notices all began to appear more regularly at least in relation to the upper echelons of Irish society.
Amongst the most important Dublin papers of this period are the Dublin Evening Post, Faulkner’s Dublin Journal and The Freeman’s Journal (merged with The Irish Independent in 1924). In 19th-century Ireland The Freeman’s Journal and The Nation were regularly read aloud by priests and local teachers at house gatherings of the largely illiterate population.
Details of Dublin and Irish Collection newspaper holdings in hardcopy, microfilm and online.